VIERA, Fla. — OK, that promise I made yesterday not to complain about the weather down here anymore? Yeah, I'm reneging on that. It's cold today. I mean cold. It was 38 degrees this morning when I left the hotel, and there's a steady 20 mph wind that leaves the wind chill in the 20s. (Note: This may be the first time in Florida meteorological history that the term "wind chill" has ever been used.)

Anyways, the players are getting all bundled up to head out to the practice fields. Jim Riggleman said he was going to make a point to emphasize to them to wear plenty of layers and to take extra precautions with stretching and getting loose before engaging in any serious physical activity.

Meanwhile, in non-weather news, today is physicals day for all the position players (plus apparently members of the PR staff — hope they pass) so we'll only see a few them straggling in and out of the complex. Everyone had reported to the stadium by yesterday, except for Josh Willingham and Elijah Dukes. Willingham's wife Ginger justRead more »

I hope Dukes has a damn good reason to be basically the only guy who didn't show up early for camp, considering that he's underperforming in right field and has basically been given his baseball life back by this organization…

Interesting correlation (although, my sample size is 1). Willingham apparently conceived his child last May (nine months ago), which is the exact same time that he started smacking the ball like crazy.To another kid in 2011, Josh!

Are the PR physicals a joke or might we see a picture of Mike Gazda on a tredmill? Does the whole front office get physicals or just the pr guys? Can we get a report on the fastest mile in the front office?

I'm not worried about Dukes, they have Bernadina, Morse and as we've read, Desmond, plus Maxwell.In the end its about the pitching … they are hedging their bets with the young guys that came up … clearly there is real concern about the lack of quality starts from them. Perhaps everyone will end up back in Syracuse with just veterans in the rotation. It doesn't look like Olsen will be ready for opening day; they still need another left-handed starter. Leaves a big wide opening for Thompson or Chico who at this point appear to be the only available options.

These married couples need to time their conceptions/pregnancies better–babies should be born in the *off* season, not during Spring Training, just like weddings! Doesn't anyone else's life revolve completely around baseball anymore?